White Tiger Mauls Roy In Vegas

[Cheshirekatt]

A white tiger mauled famed Las Vegas illusionist Roy Horn during a performance by the "Siegfried and Roy" duo on Friday night, seriously injuring the magician on his 59th birthday.



Witnesses at the scene said the tiger, named Montecore, grabbed Horn's forearm. The magician hit him with his microphone and the tiger then lunged and bit him on the left side of the neck, causing profuse blood loss.



Horn was rushed to the University Medical Center, which said later he was out of surgery but still in critical condition.



The show has been canceled until further notice and the tiger, which was performing for the first time, is being quarantined at the hotel.



"The last place Roy would place blame would be with the animal," said Bernie Yuman, manager for "Siegfried and Roy."



White tigers and lions are a trademark of the German-born illusionists, who have been putting on one of the most famous shows in Las Vegas for 30 years.



Horn's partner in the show is Siegfried Fischbacher, 64.

[luckies4me]

Well that's what he gets! He hit it with his microphone! He breeds this white tigers on purpose! :mad:


If he loved tigers so much he could go rescue cubs that came from horrible situations instead of breeding his own! Their wild animals, and that's what happens eventually. You cannot change that, no matter how many generations of tigers are born into the wild.

[RubyMutt]

I just heard about this on the radio. I'm sorry, but I think Roy got what he deserved. You don't hit a TIGER over the head with a microphone!! :mad: No matter how much training you give a tiger they are still, at heart, going to be a WILD animal.

[veegan]

"'The last place Roy would place blame would be with the animal," said Bernie Yuman, manager for "Siegfried and Roy.'"

thats right! its not the tiger's fault, hes just doing what is natural to him. they are wild animals! those guys shouldnt be f-ing exploting those animals that way and forcing them to do stupid shows and performing all these unnatural tricks and sh**. im just glad he made it clear he isnt blaming the tiger. but GRRR. yes I agree, he got what he deserves. hsfdkhfdkfsdk;d :mad: :mad: :mad:

[Uabassoon]

While I don't agree with what he did, I will admit that if a tiger grabbed my forearm I would instictivly try to defend myself anyway I could. However I wouldn't be stupid enough to try to work on stage with a WILD animal!

[babolaypo65]

While I disagree with wild animal shows, and circuses in general, and I dislike S & R specifically, I think the microphone hitting was a reflex. He was BEING BITTEN on the arm by a tiger when he did it.

Again, don't get me wrong, I cant imagine that the tigers have anything but a bad life, but to say he deserved it BECAUSE he hit the tiger who was biting him with his mike seems like oversimplification.

[babolaypo65]

Uabassoon you beat me to it!:)

[Cheshirekatt]

I think it tends to happen when you work with wild animals. You get sloppy. Just like the girl at Busch Gardens who had her arm ripped off by the lion. One little slip-up. That's all it takes. I mean, these are huge predators.

Now, on one hand.....they were doing a lot of conservation work. I believe (tho I may be wrong) that they did rescue work as well. From what I've read and seen the tigers (other than having to perform, which I hate) were just as well cared for as in the better zoos. Better in fact than many zoos and certianly circuses. Grrrrr....don't get me started on circuses who use animals.

I guess that's the risk you take when you choose to put yourself in that position.

I don't believe they're going to put the tiger down.

[RubyMutt]

I realize it was a reflex. My point was that a tiger is a wild animal, no matter how much you try to domesticate it.

[RubyMutt]

Originally posted by Cheshirekatt
Now, on one hand.....they were doing a lot of conservation work. I believe (tho I may be wrong) that they did rescue work as well. From what I've read and seen the tigers (other than having to perform, which I hate) were just as well cared for as in the better zoos. Better in fact than many zoos and certianly circuses. Grrrrr....don't get me started on circuses who use animals.

I have heard that as well. I don't have anything to back that up, but I know I've heard several times that their tigers are very well cared for and they do do conservation work.

[babolaypo65]

I agree completely, it's arrogant to assume you can truly (and have the right to) control a wild animal with twice your size. A powerful animal with a really big mouth.


Originally posted by RubyMutt
I realize it was a reflex. My point was that a tiger is a wild animal, no matter how much you try to domesticate it.

[sasvermont]

I hate to see any animal "shown" in a circus environment. I enjoyed seeing them perform when I was a child, but now that I know they don't belong in the arena, I will not got to a circus. I did attend one circus not too many years ago that had no wild animals and had trained sheep dogs as one act. It was a riot. They were not very good, but hey, they were an act. Even the sheep dogs deserve better. Zoos, well, don't get me started. I suppose there is a middle road to take and I don't know enough about the zoos individually to judge them. Many new zoos are quite civil to the animals. And they are often educational resources as well.

I hope the gentleman recovers and then retires. In my opinion, no wild animal should be turned into a circus act.



:mad:

[momofcats]

"...and the tiger, which was performing for the first time, is being quarantined at the hotel.

Punish the animal for reacting on instinct. :mad:


But, Uabassoon you did sum it up pretty well.

[Cataholic]

SAS- I agree with you. Circus', zoos, wild animal acts...they just are too sad for me. I can't blame the animal...and I doubt these guys will either. Just part of the job hazard.

[CathyBogart]

OK, I have to put in my two cents here...

They have done a LOT for tiger rescue. While I am against the exploitation of wild animals for entertainment, these tigers live VERY well. Unlike most entertainment animals, these tigers live in a sanctuary that my house could fit in several times. None if this changes the fact that Monticore is a wild animal.
(Roy has said this for years BTW...he KNOWS the risks he is taking)

Roy is still critical, but has started speaking to people, so he's improving.

What happened was this (Getting this info from another forum BTW): Monticore was noticed to be limping slightly. Roy told him to "sit", and when he did not sit Roy tried to gently push him into a sitting position. When bitten, Roy thumped the tier on the nose to try and startle him into letting go, but the microphone in his hand made a "boom" noise, and the tiger did as he should be expected to and attacked the source of the noise. After that, he dragged Roy offstage.

Montecore is not going to be put down. (Huzzah!)

[dukedogsmom]

I'm so sick of humans exploiting animals! I don't support circuses or anything like that. Wild animals belong in the wild!

[CathyBogart]

Normally I agree....but many people consider even captive bred reptiled wild animals, and in most situations I disagree.

[smokey the elder]

It sounds like the tiger may have been in pain, since he was limping. Pain even makes our domestic pussycats snotty at times, so imaging a wild animal!

I don't approve of animal acts for the most part, but S&R's tigers are something like ambassadors for the species, and raise awareness of their plight.

Slighly off-topic, but tiger related: did anyone see the show about rehabbing tiger cubs into the wild? Awesome if they can pull it off, because of all the big cats, tigers breed well in captivity. Mortality among wild cubs is high, but if they could be brought up to "teenages" they could then be introduced and stabilize a population. In theory of course.

[Toby's Mommy]

Do you know how long that tiger has been there? I think I saw that tiger when I went there 2 years ago. It could have been a different tiger than I saw. It was cool to see them but I didn't watch the show. I only saw them in the cage. The cage is bigger than my house!

Thats what he gets for hitting him!! What a dummy:rolleyes:

[RubyMutt]

Originally posted by Toby's Mommy
Do you know how long that tiger has been there? I think I saw that tiger when I went there 2 years ago. It could have been a different tiger than I saw. It was cool to see them but I didn't watch the show. I only saw them in the cage. The cage is bigger than my house!

Thats what he gets for hitting him!! What a dummy:rolleyes:

When I heard about this on the radio the DJ said that this was Monticore's first performance.

[moosmom]

My very first reaction when I heard it on the news was "What about the tiger???" I hope they didn't euthanize him.

I also don't go to circuses or any kind of animal performances. Like the consensus here...these animals are WILD creatures. Anything can happen in a split second, like what DID happen. I don't believe it's fair to punish the animal.

I watched a program on Animal Planet last night about magicians and cats. These men run a sanctuary (I think)and train cats through respect, compassion, praise and treats. Their beliefs are that these animals should be treated with the utmost respect and compassion and should NOT try to be domesticated. I was very impressed at the way they worked with the cats. Totally different from years ago when the cats were controlled with whips and chairs.

I hope Roy recovers from his ordeal and they both retire. As far as the cat is concerned, let him go live out his life like he should, in the wild where he's happy and free with others like him.

[CathyBogart]

Originally posted by Toby's Mommy
Thats what he gets for hitting him!! What a dummy:rolleyes:

OK, what would you have done if you had a tiger latched on to your arm? In the past, a thump on the nose had been the tiger's signal to stop. He just happened to be holding a microphone which made a startling noise at the time. Bad idea? Yes. But I don't think any of us can say for sure that we would have done any better in that situation. Roy does care about the welfare of his tigers, and doesn't just go around whacking them for no reason.

[CathyBogart]

Originally posted by moosmom
My very first reaction when I heard it on the news was "What about the tiger???" I hope they didn't euthanize him.

I hope Roy recovers from his ordeal and they both retire. As far as the cat is concerned, let him go live out his life like he should, in the wild where he's happy and free with others like him.

Did you read my post? Monticore will -NOT- be euthanised.

Since he was a hand raised tiger who has been in captivity and around humans his entire life, would you really wish him death by starvation (or poaching) in the wild? As far as I know, their plans are to keep him and let him live out his life in their beautiful tiger sanctuary.

[sweet_stormy]

i have never heard of these people or this tiger. what i have heard i dont think was right, i mean, the guy hitting the tiger with the microphone. he should have known that a tiger would have done that! its a wild animal for crying out loud! its not going to be so cute and cuddly like a domestic animal!

[babolaypo65]

They are pretty well known...
check out this link...

http://www.lasvegastourism.com/siegfried_roy.htm

[Uabassoon]

i mean, the guy hitting the tiger with the microphone.

You need to reread this thread, that is not one happened.

[RICHARD]

Another reason for not wearing real fur.

It bites.

[luckies4me]

This was NOT the tigers first performance, and Roy hit the Tiger BEFORE the tiger bit him..............so, he got what he deserved. Read more here:

http://entertainment.msn.com/news/article.aspx?news=136461

[Twisterdog]

I don't approve of animal acts for the most part, but S&R's tigers are something like ambassadors for the species, and raise awareness of their plight.

I agree. If you haven't been to The Mirage, toured the Siegfried and Roy Secret Garden, seen the animal enclosures and seen a performance, you truly have no clue. These animals are VERY well cared for. Preserving habitat and endangered species has been a lifelong commitment for both of these gentlemen. They have created a huge rainforest inside the Mirage, where endangered animals can live out their natural lives, when their native habitat has been destroyed. These gentlemen love these animals and have spent literally millions of their own money supporting environmental and wildlife causes.

The tiger enclosures at the Mirage are state of the art natural habitats, and the animals are rotated off public view to a private enclosure often. These animals are in no way mistreated, and seeing these animals live and hearing S&R speak of their loss of habitat, poaching, etc. has done as much, if not more, to help endangered animals than any other effort in the US.




Roy hit the Tiger BEFORE the tiger bit him..............so, he got what he deserved.

That's a really nasty thing to say, IMO. They put on six shows a week, 44 weeks per year and have been onstage in Las Vegas for more than 35 years. That is a LOT of shows, and this is the first serious incident. Obviously, if they were abusing these animals, they could not have kept up this show schedule for 35 years. The article I read said he "tapped" the tiger on the nose, not "hit" it. This is consistent with what I saw at their shows, a light tap at the very most, usually with fingertips, just to get the animals' attention. I'm sure a "tap" with a microphone was not sufficient to injure a 600 pound tiger. I think saying that he "got what he deserved" is more than a bit callous and unfeeling. This is a man who has devoted his life to the plight of the wild tiger and it's habitat.

http://entertainment.msn.com/news/article.aspx?news=136461

[Cheshirekatt]

Hey, I've done the same thing with my kitties. If they're playing too rough and grab my hand, I usually bap them on the nose if I don't have a squirt bottle handy.

[Logan]

I've never seen their show, so maybe I'm not supposed to be speaking up, but something tell me that if there were any issues with the way these Tigers are treated in capitivity by Siegfried and Roy, then we would have heard about it before now, and something would have been done about it long ago. This is a risk that I am sure they understood when they started doing this years ago. I do NOT think he got what he deserved, but probably will say (provided he can speak about it one day) that it is a risk he understood and was willing to take.

I just pray that he will be ok. And I pray that the Tiger will be well cared for, even if he never goes back on stage. This is a horrible incident, and one that we should all feel badly about, for the animal and for the trainer. :(

[2kitties]

It's a tragedy and I certaily hope he recovers. But, not to sound cruel, it's sort of like the rest of the headlines you see: Race Car Driver Dies In Crash, SkyDiver Loses Chute, Trapeze Artist Injured in Fall, Fire Eater Burns Tongue...

It is one of those things that really just shouldn't shock us too much.

I know S&R did much for animals and certainly treated their own very very well. It confuses me, though, that they bred their animals for captivity. While they treated them very well, it just seems strange that they did very little in terms of helping the wild population of white tigers or tigers in general.

The tiger is a wild animal no matter how you see it. It did what instinct told it to do. I'm wondering if it got some kind of electric shock by the microphone by accident. Or maybe it just got friggin tired of being a sideshow and got pissed off.

[RICHARD]

The Manticore was one of my favorite mythic animals.....


man·ti·core

Etymology: Middle English, from Latin mantichora, from Greek mantichOras

a legendary animal with the head of a man, the body of a lion, and the tail of a dragon or scorpion.

[Cheshirekatt]

Originally posted by RICHARD
The Manticore was one of my favorite mythic animals.....


man·ti·core

Etymology: Middle English, from Latin mantichora, from Greek mantichOras

a legendary animal with the head of a man, the body of a lion, and the tail of a dragon or scorpion.

Me too. One was prominently featured in Piers Anthony's book A Spell For Chameleon. :)

[RICHARD]

Originally posted by Cheshirekatt
Me too. One was prominently featured in Piers Anthony's book A Spell For Chameleon. :)

Great book!


When I was a kid I really respected Marlin Perkins
(Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom) and him sitting in the chair of his 'study', sending out his flunky to wrestle allligators and stuff.

I'm a bit more intolerant of the 'Animal Guys'-

By Crikey! Let's go look for an endangered species
to wrestle!!!!

No matter what or how nicely those tigers were treated, as was alluded to earlier, there always is the chance that any animal will do the "WHEN ANIMALS GO NUTS" thing on a person. You really can't blame the animal, it's been hardwired for it's behavior for a long time.

Domesticated is just a nice word that says you can trust the animal you live with 99.9% of the time.

It's that .1% that people either forget, ignore or
just don't realize.

[catland]

I know the damage my eight pound (3.6kg) cat can inflict on me when she's in a foul mood. It doesn't take too much of a stretch of the imagination to imagine 50 times her ferocity or temper.:eek:

[Cheshirekatt]

Originally posted by RICHARD
When I was a kid I really respected Marlin Perkins
(Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom) and him sitting in the chair of his 'study', sending out his flunky to wrestle allligators and stuff.

Watch out for those teeth, Jim!

lolololol

[RICHARD]

Originally posted by Cheshirekatt
Watch out for those teeth, Jim!

lolololol

Never in a thousand years would i have remembered his name.......and who knew Roy had a last name!



catland,

Doesn't any animal sound more ferocious when you give their weight in kilos? ;)

I learned this the hard way.....when stuck in any animals jaw the WORST THING TO DO IS PULL your appendage out from their teeth...in this case I think Roy had no choice...


I do hope he gets better.

[catland]

Originally posted by RICHARD


catland,

Doesn't any animal sound more ferocious when you give their weight in kilos? ;)

I do hope he gets better.

I also hope he gets better.

I like to do the metric conversions to remind myself and others that we're an international site. and yeah - it does sound like more.;)

[Twisterdog]

While they treated them very well, it just seems strange that they did very little in terms of helping the wild population of white tigers or tigers in general.

They actually do a LOT to help wild populations and tigers in general. They have donated millions of dollars of their own money to support habitat conservation efforts, and helping to get tigers in bad captive situations (one for example, housed in a tiny cage in a truck stop parking lot) into better environments.

[Soledad]

Apparently, the first thing Roy said was "do not kill the tiger."

[luckies4me]

Yes that was very mean of me to say. I read it wrong. I do hope he recovers and it must be scary. I can see that they love their tigers very much, but I still do not believe it breeding the white tiger as a "novelty", as they do not occur that often in the wild.


I amglad the tiger will remain alive and that he loves him so much as to spare him.

[curiosityrats]

Originally posted by WolfChan
What happened was this (Getting this info from another forum BTW): Monticore was noticed to be limping slightly. Roy told him to "sit", and when he did not sit Roy tried to gently push him into a sitting position. When bitten, Roy thumped the tier on the nose to try and startle him into letting go, but the microphone in his hand made a "boom" noise, and the tiger did as he should be expected to and attacked the source of the noise. After that, he dragged Roy offstage.

Montecore is not going to be put down. (Huzzah!)

Of course they aren't going to "put down" an endangered species... The magicians do know these animals. This tiger has been performing with them a long time (six years I believe... the "first time" thing was a theatrical gimmick they do every show...), and the guys just didn't recognize he was having an off day. (Magicians, especially ones like these, would never have an animal preform on an "off day." They have other animals trained to take their place...) So, all in all, it is an unfortunate, frightning, and sad story. Not unexpected but not predictable.

The only message I can see in this is that wild animals ARE wild. Even those that are captively bred are still wild. People should always be aware of that. (And I believe Roy is. Even with precautions, things can happen. He dropped the chain lead they use when commanding the tigers too... Another accident that added to the problem.)

The truly upsetting and frightening thing is NOT this incident but the fact that completely ignorant people can aquire many "exotic" animals--including big cats--just on a whim. It is cruel to the animals, dangerous to the people. I hope those people will read the story, get scared, and NEVER get an exotic animal. Roy's tigers are treated well, and he knows their insticts. Why dwell on HIM rather than an inner city drug dealer who gives his girlfriend a pet lion cub (declawed and neutered no less)? Those are the horrific stories. Those are the people who I pray to God were at that show and are scared to death of ever getting NEAR a big cat...

Just my two and a half cents.

[curiosityrats]

Originally posted by RICHARD
Domesticated is just a nice word that says you can trust the animal you live with 99.9% of the time.

Nah, "domesticated" is an animal removed from any wild heritage by many (hundreds of) generations. An animal that is specifically suited for a life with human beings. Dogs and cats and cows are domesticated (although you are completely right that they retain instincts).

Tigers, even born in captivity, are NOT domesticated in any way, shape, or form. They are exotic. They are wild. They have all their instincts in tact. You don't tame tigers. Training a dog is getting him to do what you want. Training a TIGER is learning how to read him, and him getting what HE wants from you. You can't force a wild animal to do anything. You can only try as hard as you can to understand it and what it is thinking, and how it will react...

[curiosityrats]

Try this story on for size:

http://www.nynewsday.com/news/local/manhattan/nyc-tiger1005,0,6124881.story?coll=nyc-topheadlines-span

Tiger Found In Harlem Apt.
By Wil Cruz and Jeremy Olshan

October 4, 2003, 8:58 PM EDT


A Bengal tiger being kept as a pet in a fifth-floor Harlem apartment was tranquilized and carted away by police Saturday night after a daring descent down the side of the building by cops with sedation darts and a machine gun.

The wild beast did not go quietly. The crowd of several hundred on the street below, which had been transfixed during the hours-long drama, heard a loud roar as the dart hit its mark.

[...]

Police were still searching for Antoine Yates, 36, whom they identified as the man keeping the tiger and a three-foot caiman, a type of crocodile, in the public housing apartment. They were tipped off to the illegal menagerie after Yates was taken to the hospital Wednesday to be treated for animal bites.

Yates told the doctor he had been bitten on his right arm and leg by his pit bull, but the doctors, after examining both fresh and old wounds, were suspicious. Police said they also received an anonymous call about wild animals biting people at Yates' address.

[...]

The golden brown, striped, 6-foot-long tiger, which experts say could easily kill or maim a human, was taken to the Bronx Zoo, where it will stay temporarily before being moved, perhaps to a facility in Ohio, police said. It is healthy and in good condition, officials said.

[...]

"He got the tiger when it was very little some three to five years ago," said a neighbor who would identify himself only as Moe. "That was his pet. It just outgrew him."

An estimated 7,000 tigers are kept privately worldwide, purchased for thousands of dollars on the black market, according to James Doherty, general curator of the Bronx Zoo. "That's well more than all the wild tigers in all of Asia," he said.

Since 1990 at least eight people have been killed by tigers, and more than 60 adults and children have been injured, Doherty said. "They can be tamed, as Sigfried and Roy had done up until night, but I can think of nothing more dangerous or more inhumane than keeping a wild tiger as a pet."

[curiosityrats]

If you ask me, THIS guy is the one who deseves being in critical condition in a hospital. Honestly, a tiger in an apartment...

Poor, scared animal. THIS is abuse.

And it "outgrew him." Please. ("I swear, I thought tigers stopped growing at around 20 pounds... I had no idea they weren't suited to apartment life...")

[moosmom]

I heard on the news last night that Roy told the authorities "Please, don't blame the cat, it wasn't his fault. Please don't KILL the cat."

I hope they listen to him. That cat was only doing what his instincts told him to do and that was to defend himself because he felt threatened.

I hope Roy recovers, don't get me wrong, but I DO hope they don't euthanize that tiger for following his instincts.

[2kitties]

Moosmom, I honestly doubt that the authorities would put down such an endangered animal. And the animals rights groups along with Sigfried and Company would never allow it to happen. Truthfully, I think the majority of people see this as an eventuallity when dealing with wild animals. A tragedy, but not necessarily unexpected.

[Twisterdog]

What Led to Tiger Attack?
Oct 7, 10:09 AM EST

Associated Press

Siegfried & Roy's longtime manager said Tuesday he thought the act went awry when Montecore the tiger got distracted by something in the audience.

Moments later the tiger attacked trainer and performer Roy Horn, leaving him in critical condition.

"Roy — heroically, from my perception — got in front of him and started to nudge him," manager Bernie Yuman told ABC-TVs "Good Morning America."

"They were both out of their routine. One thing led to another, and it was a tragic accident," he said.

Exquisite white tigers have been Horn's passion for almost 40 years. A modern day Dr. Dolittle who called the cats his children, Horn spent vast amounts of time, energy and money on animals that have left millions of show-goers here in awe since 1966.

The menagerie developed by Horn and longtime stage partner Siegfried Fischbacher includes 63 rare white tigers and white lions. Horn has been on hand for many of their births.

"The first voice they hear is mine, the first touch they feel is mine, the first human face they see is mine," Horn said in an interview in late 2000. "They just think I'm a strange tiger who walks on two legs."

But on Friday night, just 20 hours after Horn had celebrated his 59th birthday with hundreds of friends, one of the beasts inexplicably turned on its owner at the Mirage hotel-casino.

As he had done thousands of times, Horn sauntered onto the stage with 7-year-old Montecore, a white tiger who has appeared in the show since he was 6 months old — telling the capacity crowd of 1,503 it was the cat's stage debut — a little white tiger lie.

Montecore was told to lie down, but balked and grabbed Horn's arm in his mouth. Horn struck Montecore with his microphone, trying to get him to loosen his grip. Montecore then grabbed Horn by his throat, dragging him backstage where handlers subdued the tiger by spraying him with a fire extinguisher.

Horn prided himself in knowing his animals and his animals knowing him. In more than 40 years of close encounters with some of the world's most exotic animals, Horn was never injured by any of the creatures, Horn said in a 2000 interview for the book "Siegfried & Roy's Gift for the Ages."

"Siegfried and I have spent every waking moment with our animals," Horn said. "We watch and observe. We talk to them, take walks with them, swim with them, meditate with them. Day by day, we learn about each other. But you must have patience and respect for Mother Nature. Because when an animal gives you its trust, you feel like you have been given the most beautiful gift in the world."

Horn said whatever situation he's put in with his animals, "I always try to think as they think. We can always solve our arguments in an understanding way because I respect them and they respect me."

Only once was that philosophy tested, he said in the 2000 interview.

He was playing hide and seek, as he often did, with a Siberian tiger named Sahra.

"After rolling around in the grass together, she suddenly laid on top of me and pinned me down," Horn recalled. "Our eyes met and I realized she was no longer playing; she was about to bite me. Trusting my instincts, I raised my head and bit her nose as hard as I could.

"Totally perplexed, she jumped up and pretended it never happened. I immediately made our friendship sound — ff-fuff, ff-fuff. She never attempted to bite me again."

The bonds with special animals begin at an early age. When a white lion or white tiger is pregnant she is cared for at special birthing facilities at Siegfried & Roy's Secret Garden, an animal habitat at the Mirage.

"I think this is incredible when you consider an animal like this can kill their own mate over young ones, and to think that she accepts Roy to be a part of the experience is a miracle," Fischbacher said.

Horn's love of animals dates back to postwar Germany, when his father returned home from the German military with an animal that was half dog, half wolf. Horn and the dog, Hexe, became inseparable, spending their days wandering in the nearby woods.

"If it wasn't for Hexe, I wouldn't be sitting here today," Horn said in the interview. One day Horn was sucked into a swamp area and began sinking. Hexe raced to a nearby farmhouse and brought help, Horn recalled.

Horn left home at an early age to become a bellboy on the cruise ship, where he met Fischbacher, a young magician who was one of the ship's entertainers.

The two first played Las Vegas in 1966, then returned as a featured act in 1974. They signed an unprecedented $57.5 million contract to play the Mirage in a theater bearing their name beginning in 1990. In 2001, after performing some 5,000 shows before more than 7 million people at the Mirage, they signed a lifetime contract with the resort.

The day after the attack, the show was closed indefinitely.

[babolaypo65]

I saw this interview on GMA. wow.

[moosmom]

Because Sigfreid and Roy domesticated Montecore, he will be euthanized. Very sad.

They cannot release him into the wild because he doesn't know how to hunt prey to feed himself, they always fed him.

They cannot put him in a zoo because his life would be in jeopardy with the other wild cats who aren't domesticated.

I am seriously heartbroken over this whole episode. These two men made millions of dollars off of these wild cats (confessing their love and compassion for them). But all the time they were hurting the cats chances for survival because the cats trust humans too much and now cannot be where they should've been to begin with, out in the wild with their fellow wild animals.

Another precious life down the tubes because of humans STUPIDITY!!!

[curiosityrats]

Originally posted by moosmom
Because Sigfreid and Roy domesticated Montecore, he will be euthanized. Very sad.

Huh? Why? Did I miss something? Where did you read that?? There are sanctuaries for cats like Montecore. Why wouldn't Siegfried & Roy keep him or send him to a sanctuary? Don't they keep retired tiger "stars"? Most magicians do.... The big cats in sanctuaries are often MUCH worse off before they got there. HORRIBLY vicious from being severely abused/neglected (often kept in apartments or tiny cages), mutilated by declawings and other things. Why would Monticore, a well-raised and properly treated animal "owned" by people who care about him (and can afford to care for him or place him in a place he can be cared for), be less of a candidate for such a sanctuary?

Sorry, but that just isn't logical. Did you read that in a paper or hear a news report?

[Twisterdog]

Because Sigfreid and Roy domesticated Montecore, he will be euthanized.

That's not true. According to every article I have read, the tiger will NOT be killed.

And, just a note, tigers are never "domesticated". Some of them might be "tame", like Montecore, but they are never "domesticated." It takes many thousands of generations to domesticate a species, such as dogs, cows, etc. Taming one animal does not a domestic species make.

[babolaypo65]

Actually Twister, the animal trainer on GMA used a different distinction. He says that they arent ever "tame" either, only "trained".

[moosmom]

I stand corrected I guess. There are so many stories and versions of what took place, it's difficult to say what's true and what's not.

I just heard on the radio that Montecore felt Roy was in danger and was actually trying to PROTECT Roy by first grabbing his sleeve and pulling him down on the floor. She then grabbed him by the nap of the neck like a tiger mother does when she carries her cubs to safety.

It was also reported that Roy suffered a stroke from all the blood loss.

I guess we'll never know exactly WHAT was going through Montecore's mind. I do hope that they put her in a sanctuary where she can live out her remaining years.

[lovemyshiba]

Siegfried did an interview on CNN last night (it may have been Larry King)--did anyone see it??

It was on at work, but with the sound muted, so I couldn't catch anything.

edit: I just found the story on CNN.com, here's the link, if anyone's interested.
I found the second part interesting as well.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/SHOWBIZ/10/08/siegfried.roy/index.html

[babolaypo65]

I saw him on GMA this morning. Boy does he love that man. You could see him barely, but nobely holding it together, saying only the most positive and beautiful things about him....

[curiosityrats]

Originally posted by moosmom
I just heard on the radio that Montecore felt Roy was in danger and was actually trying to PROTECT Roy by first grabbing his sleeve and pulling him down on the floor. She then grabbed him by the nap of the neck like a tiger mother does when she carries her cubs to safety.

That actually makes a lot of sense... When I heard that Montecore dragged him off the stage like that, I thought it didn't sound like a mauling...

[RICHARD]

Originally posted by Twisterdog

It takes many thousands of generations to domesticate a species, such as dogs, cows, etc. Taming one animal does not a domestic species make.

Can't you just get one of those "Domestication
for Dummies" books and hurry the process along??

:confused:

[Logan]

Here's the link to the transcript from Larry King Live, last night, where Larry was speaking with Siegfried and their manager....The article from CNN that Emily posted takes it's excerpts from this.

Larry King Live (http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0310/08/lkl.00.html)

I thought, in a way, it was very enlightening. Hopefully it will shed some new light on the whole situation for the rest of you.

[lovemyshiba]

Thanks for posting that link Logan. I kept laughing though, because as I was reading it I had Larry King's voice in my head.

YUMAN: In his area in the Secret Garden which is a private area. And certainly, the last person to blame anybody especially Montecor would be Roy or Siegfried. And Monticor is safe and he will have a great life and continue to thrive and be well.

This quote from the manager should clear things up a bit.

[RICHARD]

Wasn't there another tiger attack this week?

[Cheshirekatt]

Originally posted by RICHARD
Wasn't there another tiger attack this week?

Not that I heard of, but they did find a tape of the bear mauling in Alaska.

Apparently they turned a camera on when they heard the bear...then it attacked and they have audio of the guy being mauled then it cut out.

Kinda Blair Witch if you ask me.....:eek:

[RICHARD]

Originally posted by Cheshirekatt


Kinda Blair Witch if you ask me.....:eek:



as long as the tape didn't have that caption thing like, 'our anniversay' or 'a day at the park'

I saw the ranger's tape of the site...

The bear got the guy first, the gal yelled for him to play dead, then she went to his aid with a stick.

[ramanth]

Originally posted by RICHARD
Wasn't there another tiger attack this week?
It was on the Today show yesterday morning. A young woman that helps out a refuge, was bit in the leg by one of the tigers.

Can probably find the info at their website.

[RICHARD]

Channel surfing last night I saw the Siegfried and Roy 'official' DVDs on sale....

My only question is are they LETTERBOX format????:rolleyes: :rolleyes: